In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
Jay-Z's studio album
Publication (s)	November 4th 1997
Label (s)	Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam / Bad Boy Records
Genre (s)	Hip hop
Title (number)	16
running time	58 min 00 sec
production	Jay-Z ski Damon Dash Daven "Prestige" Vanderpool DJ premier DJ Irv Big Jaz Buckwild Kareem "Biggs" Burke Poke and Tone Tedy Riley The Hitman
Studio (s)	Late 1996 - mid 1997 D&D Studio
chronology Reasonable Doubt (1996) In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life (1998)

My Lifetime, Vol. 1 is the second studio album by American rapper Jay-Z . It was released on November 4, 1997 on his music label Roc-a-Fella Records . The critics received the album mixed. The album is mainly more mainstream oriented than his debut album Reasonable Doubt . My Lifetime, Vol. 1 debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and was awarded platinum by the RIAA in the US during the year .

Musical style and content

On the album Jay-Z worked and raped with various artists and producers from the hip-hop scene such as Fox Brown , Babyface , BLACKstreet , Teddy Riley, Too Short , Lil 'Kim and Puff Daddy . The producers DJ Premier and Ski, who were also working on Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt , produced numerous new beats to make the songs radio more suitable for the mainstream audience. Puff Daddy gave the album the decisive finishing touches for Jay-Z's breakthrough in the US, he produced almost all of the songs and the album and then released it on Bad Boy Records . The promotion for the album took over Puff Daddy. The album is in mafioso rap style from the late 1990s. The content of the album relates to the life in the ghetto and in the urban scene of New York City , there are also many personal songs on this album, on which he mostly simply calls himself with the pseudonym "Jiggy", which for some time Jay-Z's stage name was.

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 was released at a time when the "mafia image" was playing a big role in the hip-hop scene. Jay-Z was then inspired by other Mafia-inspired albums like Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… , Nas It Was Written and AZ's Doe or Die , as he said in later interviews. There are also connections with The Notorious BIG , who for a while carried the gangster pseudonym Frank White , who is also featured on In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 . The songs Who You Wit , (Always Be My) Sunshine and The City Is Mine were selected as single releases . Music videos were shot for all three songs .

Track list

1. Intro: A Million and One Questions / Rhyme No More (produced by DJ Premier)
2. The City Is Mine f / BLACKstreet (produced by Teddy Riley & Chad Hugo )
3. I Know What Girls Like f / Lil 'Kim & Puff Daddy (produced by Sean Combs , The Hitmen)
4. Imaginary Player (produced by Hitmen)
5. Streets Is Watching (produced by Ski)
6. Friend or Foe '98 (produced by DJ Premier)
7. Lucky Me (produced by The Hitmen, Buckwild)
8. (Always Be My) Sunshine f / Foxy Brown & Babyface (produced by The Hitmen)
9. Who You Wit II (produced by Ski)
10. Face Off f / Sauce Money (produced by Poke and Tone)
11. Real Niggaz f / Too Short (produced by Anthony Dent)
12. Rap Game / Crack Game (produced by Big Jaz)
13. Where I'm From (produced by Deric Angelettie, The Hitmen)
14. You Must Love Me f / Kelly Price (produced by The Hitmen)
15. Can I Live II f / Memphis Bleek (produced by K-Rob)
16. Can't Knock The Hustle (Fool's Paradise Remix) f / Meli'sa Morgan (Bonustrack) (produced by DJ Irv)

Charts

album

Chart (1997)	Top ranking
US Billboard 200	3
US hip-hop albums	2

Singles

year	song	Billboard Hot 100	Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot rap singles
1997	"Who You Wit"	# 84	# 25	# 18
	"(Always Be My) Sunshine"	# 95	# 37	# 16
1998	"The City Is Mine"	# 52	# 37	# 14

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Spence D. Review: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . IGN. Retrieved February 5, 2010 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Shuster, Fred. " Review: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 ". LA Daily News : Nov. 21, 1997.
3. ↑ Columnist. Rappers Mase, Jay-Z, Rakim Lead Pack . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 5, 2010
4. ^ Gold & Platinum: Searchable Database . Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved February 5, 2010
5. ↑ Harrington, Richard. " Review: In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 ". The Washington Post : Nov. 26, 1997.

Web links

• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 at Discogs
• Album Review at RapReviews